geoffry's review against another edition
5.0
Hoe omgaan met rouw en depressie? Helen MacDonald haalt een havik in huis nadat haar vader overlijdt en verliest zichzelf haast in de obsessieve training die ze het beest geeft. Tegelijk helpt de havik, Mabel, haar ook om overeind te blijven in een wereld die zo onwezenlijk en wreed lijkt nadat je iemand dierbaar verloren hebt.
Dit is een boek voor iedereen die verlies kende en eventjes niet meer wist hoe het verder moest.
Dit is een boek voor iedereen die verlies kende en eventjes niet meer wist hoe het verder moest.
jtisgreen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
gorecki's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve heard and read a lot of great reviews for H is for Hawk and I must admit this raised my expectations quite a bit, but after reading this book, I unfortunately don’t feel the same way about it as so many others do.
Let’s start with the fact that I’m not a big fan of non-fiction. The only times I read non-fiction is when I want to learn new things and hit the books for the purpose of studying. As this book is not really a manual, nor a guide book in any particular field of studies, I was not able to approach the text in it as a “study book” and I read it quite as I would read a novel.
Reading it as a memoir or a personal story was also hard – I had no previous knowledge of Helen MacDonald, which made it hard for me to be interested in her personal story the way I would be interested in the life of a painter, writer, or artist – someone I know and like and would love to read more about. I could not relate to her personal loss and the way she copes with it either.
As a novel it did not grab my attention because the plot and topic stand far from me – I have never had any particular interest in birds, apart from admiring their prettiness or chirruping if I see one around me. Plus, the structure and way of writing actually made it impossible for me to read as fiction. Even though I did find the parts dealing with White and his goshawk interesting, and a lot of the facts and knowledge MacDonald shares about the history of falconry and the training of a hawk very informative and interesting, I sometimes felt the writing was chaotic and random – part study, part memoir, part literary analysis, and history paper.
I am very happy to see that this book brings much enjoyment and happiness to other readers, but unfortunately I was not one of them.
Let’s start with the fact that I’m not a big fan of non-fiction. The only times I read non-fiction is when I want to learn new things and hit the books for the purpose of studying. As this book is not really a manual, nor a guide book in any particular field of studies, I was not able to approach the text in it as a “study book” and I read it quite as I would read a novel.
Reading it as a memoir or a personal story was also hard – I had no previous knowledge of Helen MacDonald, which made it hard for me to be interested in her personal story the way I would be interested in the life of a painter, writer, or artist – someone I know and like and would love to read more about. I could not relate to her personal loss and the way she copes with it either.
As a novel it did not grab my attention because the plot and topic stand far from me – I have never had any particular interest in birds, apart from admiring their prettiness or chirruping if I see one around me. Plus, the structure and way of writing actually made it impossible for me to read as fiction. Even though I did find the parts dealing with White and his goshawk interesting, and a lot of the facts and knowledge MacDonald shares about the history of falconry and the training of a hawk very informative and interesting, I sometimes felt the writing was chaotic and random – part study, part memoir, part literary analysis, and history paper.
I am very happy to see that this book brings much enjoyment and happiness to other readers, but unfortunately I was not one of them.
insectinthecity's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
tui_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Not like anything else I've read, hard to describe, meditative, sometimes very painful, sometimes very beautiful, sometimes funny, sometimes just layered with an unconscious literariness that I found quite lovely actually. Really good. Helen Macdonald writes about the time she spent training a young goshawk after her father died unexpectedly, and also about TH White, who also trained a goshawk and wrote a book about it, and also about her immense grief, and also about depression, and also about England and her relationship with mythical England and its countryside, and... a whole lot of other things.
Read this book but probably don't start it a couple of months after your dad dies, which I did - put it down and picked it back up again several times since then.
Read this book but probably don't start it a couple of months after your dad dies, which I did - put it down and picked it back up again several times since then.
teaandpetrichor's review against another edition
Stopped purely because I can't do hunting stuff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty